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Write as if your parents are dead... we will discuss libel later.
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I read Jeff Jarvis this morning and then found this blog, that of an Iraqi blogger who asked other Iraqi bloggers if the war in Iraq was worth it, basically. I encourage you to read it. It's not a good assessment, but it is a good barometer of the people there. A commenter in the conversation says that Americans are the real deal - that we fought for our liberty and won it and that, today, the need for liberty runs thick in our blood, so much so that we're willing to give our lives for it. The Iraqi blogger replies that while that may be true for Americans, it's not true for Iraqis. He quotes the commenter in his reply: "Americans believe as much in freedom as Muslims believe in Islam and Allah."I agree. But they can believe in freedom on their lands. Why do they have to impose it on others? YOU CAN’T IMPOSE FREEDOM. Freedom should be adopted by the people, not from other forces from other countries. That’s why you see it did not work in Iraq. I have to say that Iraqis are not fans of freedom and democracy because it proved to them that this freedom is being used by the extremists who are controlling them now. Bella, here on my site, has been making something of that same argument for a while now in her comments. Hat tip to you, Bella. You might be right. We led the horse to water, but we can't make it drink. If Iraqis aren't willing to fight for their own freedom as we Americans have, then we shouldn't be there.But on the other hand... I look at Japan and Germany, places where we "instituted" democracy, and it was hell for them at first. Gangs and thugs ruled in places there for a while too. But they eventually became stable and peaceful democracies, and for the betterment of not just their nation, but for the world. It's an open question whether this will happen in Iraq. It damn well better. But if there are no Iraqi patriots to fight for the future of the country rather than the fattening of their own personal future, then I don't see how it can. Further, writing that makes me think of my own country, and how frequently our politicians fight not for the future of their country, but for the fattening of their own personal futures (earmarking, cronyism, etc). Power is such an evil thing. I really hate politicians - simply because power can't be trusted in the hands of those who seek it. |
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I read this yesterday and liked it... Live your life as an experiment.
- Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche Be unafraid to try new things... |
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Break number two...  As I painted this, I realized how when I paint, I really don't think much about painting itself. I notice the colors and strive to mix the colors well, but it's kind of an edge thing - not really aware. It's all about intuition and gut. As I mix, the color I need will leap to my mind like it came out of nowhere. And so I'll mix it. I know that this comes from habit and experience and trial and error, but I've learned to trust it and just let go. I once heard some famous batter say that... that his secret to batting success was to not even think about batting. He just let his body swing. Thinking about it screwed it up. And that's makes sense - the conscious brain is much slower than instinctive responses, and when that ball travels that fast, there's no time for a conscious response. Isn't it that way with most things though? The guitarist, who mives fluidly through a solo and just feels his way along the song. The mom, who recognizes the subtle sounds of her home and her baby, and knows with an almost sixth sense that something is wrong. The speaker who stands before hundreds of people and knows just what to say and how to say it to keep their rapt attention. It's instinct, built by practice and experience. It's also trust. And for that reason, I'm grateful for painting. It teaches me to trust: the colors, the brushes, the process... that's valuable for so many areas of life. Think about relationships... I'm still doing background work, but I can feel it come forward. It's almost like painting with my eyes closed, which probably makes sense to no one, but that's how it is. |
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New painting... this is of a Christmas tree and an ornament.  Background colors first, this time green and purple. |
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You've all heard of photoshopping, that ability to enhance a picture/change a picture so that it looks almost real. I've done that before. Here's my picture of Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks with Saddam Hussein.  Looks like they're having a good ol' time, right? Sure, except that it never happened. In the first picture, that's actually Maines with her husband, but I photoshopped Hussein's face in there, and but for the pink of Saddam's ruddy skin into the lilly white of Maines' husband's chest, it might pass as legitimate.  I did this one too - it's more realistic. This kind of thing can get you into trouble, so I don't do it much. I stopped at my grandmother's house over the summer and she asked me if I could blend a friend's two family photos together so that the resulting single picture looks like a family portrait. Sure, I told her. No problem.  Hmm... notice the darkness around the edge of these 70's photographs. Notice too that to blend them together, I'll have to make an arm where none existed before. I can't just stick them together. I managed to do it by copying bits of the father's fabric and molding these bits into a sleeve. A little shade here, a little highlight there. I think it comes off fairly realistic.  So if you ever have to do something like this, try that approach. I printed this out on photo paper and sent it to her. She plans to give it to a friend of hers, the mom in the photo. Kind of cool to be able to do this. |
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Back when Lincoln was president, it was odd and a stigma if a person was an employee. Everyone learned how to make their own way and had their own business. The Industrial Revolution changed that, which brought about the assembly line worker. Everyone in their place, doing the same thing over and over, which made them an expert, of sorts, in their function. Efficiencies gained came about in the means by which they might increase their speed, but their job was to stand in place and do their function.
A few generations later, corporate America expects exactly that from its people. Everything has become a McJob, where management doesn't really need your expertise or out-of-the-box thinking - just perform within your function. Read the manual. Stand in place. Screw in the damn bolt, if you please. That's your job.
Screw that.
Here's a quote that I think is apt: "I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, 'How do I build a small firm for myself?' The answer seems obvious: Buy a very large one and just wait."- Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics Historically, that's true. It was Drucker who said that most of today's management consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.
And here's a nice graphic that I've lifted from Tom Peters:
The Matrix of corporate America wants us to believe that we can't function outside of our McJobs. So not true. There's a better world, one without the constraints of a job description. Thankfully, there are many small and even mid-sized companies that pull the best from their people by allowing them elbow room. But I can't name a large company that fits this bill. Which of course means that, as Ormerod found, these large will be small companies soon enough.
Bummer for the employees. |
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I found, when I got my little cards, that size matters. The little cards can't be mailed. Sure, you can put them in a larger envelope to mail them, and I've actually successfully mailed one, but it got delivered with a note warning that the size was non-standard. And people will want to, you know, mail cards... The Post Office says that the minimum size for mailing anything is 3½" x 5". My little cards are 2½" x 3½". I feel like Goldilocks, and I've tried Papa Bear's bed, and Baby Bear's bed... how about just right? (I don't think the little cards are a mistake... they do have their uses. But I need to offer something that's mailable and small.) 
That's the smallest size there is, and it's called A-1. Small and mailable. That works, and so I think I'll order up a bunch of those. |
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The local Borders, God bless it, has placed their first order for my cards. They want 30 Connection Packs. I was expecting, like, 10. How cool is that? It's a nice validation that I'm doing what I need to be doing. Let's see how they sell, and if they sell well, I have a shot at getting them into more Borders stores nationwide. It does bring up a point, though. Repeatedly, I've found it hard to get my cards into local retailers because most retailers are franchised or somehow connected to a national chain. The purchasing decisions are not localized at all, but centralized at headquarters, wherever that might be. That's unfortunate. The Borders approach is valuable - because it allows a simple test of the market to see if a product might have legs, and if so, then the entire chain can benefit by retailing a popular and previously unknown item. But when centralized, carrying the item comes down to the hunch of a single buyer for the entire chain instead of going with a market test at a few stores. Lucky for me that Borders will do this. Their sales might help legitimize my product so that other retailers have the confidence to also carry my line. We'll see. But it's a big moment for me... makes me smile to think of the story of this adventure and how it's grown. Isn't life fabulous? |
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